


The Cause and Effect of Irreplaceable Infatuation (Food Network Edition)

by WolfVenom



Category: VALORANT (Video Game)
Genre: Bickering, Comfort No Hurt, Cooking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Culture, Dessert & Sweets, Drabble, F/M, Firsts, Fluff and Humor, Fluff without Plot, Happy, Light Angst, M/M, Movie Night, Multi, Not Beta Read, One Big Happy Family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Rare Fandoms, Rare Pairings, Relaxing, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and ONE slightly horny description of cyphers sexy hands, rated teen for canon typical themes, slight coarse language use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23563888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfVenom/pseuds/WolfVenom
Summary: Sova has never indulged in the more sweeter nature of the world's many foods, let alone the delicacy that is Cypher's special talent. Sage, astonished by Sova's lack of experience and innate palate variation, needs to remedy this tragic revelation immediately. Besides, when it comes to homemade goodies, its the heart and sentiment that counts, right?
Relationships: Cypher/Sage/Sova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	The Cause and Effect of Irreplaceable Infatuation (Food Network Edition)

**Author's Note:**

> wahoo, ive been playing tonnes of valorant in the past few days and decided to begin filling up ao3 with game content! this is just a little splurge i did on a whim, fluffy self-indulgent (and UN-EDITED, forgive me tee hee) rambling i decided to share with you~ let me know if you catch and errors in the story, and enjoy babes.  
> side note, red rover, the next installment of my hunting hound dogs series, is in working progress and the draft will soon be completed. thank u to all the faithful readers and commenters for your continuous support. many other little fic drabbles from different fandoms are also scheduled soon!
> 
> chapter one deals with sage and cypher and their initial exposition to sovas dirty little secret, while chapter two deals with all three of them and the implementation of the 'treat-sova-nicely-2020' campaign, as well as the following snuggle fluff times.

Sage is lounged on the couch with her chin tilted up, jaw slack and lips loose in the tell-tale ‘O’ shape, expressing her  _ extreme _ shock at the information she happened to be privy to. Viper is curled up next to her, knees tucked onto the plush cushion and a disassembled gas emitter spread across her lap, intricate pieces of the canister flying between her deftly working fingers as she takes precious hours to relax and do what she enjoys. Phoenix and Jett slouch against one another in front of her, exact symmetrical mirrors of each other from the way their smirks align perfectly to the shifting weight they pass from foot to foot. The height difference does nothing to deter the near carbon copy of their mimicked posture. 

“It’s true, Omen heard him talking on the phone with someone back home, probably, denied the offer outright he did,” Phoenix says, speaking emphatically with his hands while Jett snorts to his right, picking up the tail end of his sentence with ease. 

“Seriously. Said he didn’t want a cake for his birthday, that he ‘ _ hasn’t had anything sweet and over-the-top extravagant before and doesn’t wish to start now _ ’ or something like that,” Jett confirms, her impression of Sova’s timid accent adding insult to injury in the most comedic of ways. It does little to lighten the blow, however, “I doubt the guy even knows what  _ Tiramisu _ or  _ pancakes _ are. I’ve never seen him eat anything but plain bread and celery stalks! He must be easy to feed, I suppose.” 

Sage knows this, of course, primarily being the one to remind her teammates and partners alike to eat and maintain a healthy, balanced diet. But this is  _ absurd.  _ Sure, Sova is as meek as a wild civet, staying out of sight and emerging from one of his many hidey-holes late in the night when no one is around to sneak the bare scraps of dinner leftover on the counter. For God’s sake, she hasn’t even seen him drink  _ coffee.  _

Jett and Phoenix, attention already snagged elsewhere in an erratic display of loud and enthusiastic conversation, spare Sage the quickest of abrupt goodbyes before bolting from the den and racing each other through the living quarters to the shooting range, likely to pit mettle against mettle and test their skills against one another. Sage is left gobsmacked and grumpy, baulking next to Viper who continues working on her gadgets nonchalantly and snuggled up to the other woman’s side, attitude unfazed by the obviously flabbergasting revelation, in Sage’s opinion. 

Said sentinel crosses her arms with a huff at the lack of reaction, sitting up abruptly in an attempt to waver Viper’s chillily unbothered façade she usually parades around. Viper, of course, manages to hold her own despite the sudden loss of the primary support she was resting against, and Sage exclaims hotly. “Fine! I’ll just have to deal with this tragedy on my own, thank you very much!” Hurrying from the room without sparing another glance, Sage rolls her eyes at the mumbled ‘ _ you’re welcome’  _ she gets in reply. 

There is one other person on the base she trusts to help her remedy Sova’s predicament, and by God will she find him or tear up the place trying. Cypher, usually found locked in his room or the workshop fiddling with his trinkets at this time of day, is frustratingly absent from either, leaving Sage to prowl the numerous living spaces that make up the Valorant agent's housing area. 

Luckily she isn’t left searching for long. She pokes her head into the seldom utilized kitchen space to find the _sneakster_ poking away at something delicately sizzling away in a pan, hat hanging off the knob of one of the dining table chairs where his jacket is lazily folded across the seat. In front of the stovetop he diligently putters away, most likely not blissfully unaware of the approaching visitor for out of every agent in their modge-podge taskforce, Cypher is surely the  _ last  _ to be snuck up on and surprised. Albeit the jacket he still dons his usual field gear attire, though the sleeves of his button-up are rolled thrice up to his elbows and exposing a plentiful expanse of the rich, lightly-haired dark skin along his lean forearms, hands hidden away in his gloves. Sage flushes inwardly, taking a moment to compose herself before clearing her throat to politely announce her presence before coming up behind Cypher.

She puffs out her cheeks as she decides the best way to approach her topic and subsequent request, brow furrowed endearingly. “Cy, honey, I need a favour from you. Please?” She settles on, wincing at the painfully forward question. She doesn’t like asking anyone, let alone her two partner’s anything if she can help it, even if a favour is owed and yet to be repaid. 

Cypher, thankfully, is in a humble and relaxed mood today, humming his assent with his head tilted to show he is all ears. Through the mask, Sage can tell due to familiarity with the man that his face is soft and bright with the hints of a smile, focus directed at his working hands but attention willingly given to his partner. Encouraged, Sage boldly continues on, knowing that Cypher would be --  _ should be  _ \-- just as outraged with Sova’s secret admission as she was. He deserved nice things. Sweetness and tender love, everything she would strive to give, no matter what. 

“I need you to help me make something for Sova. A treat, if you will. Something so sickeningly tasty, so cloyingly delicious, one bite and he’d end up comatose for a week.”

Cypher, bless his composure, only gives away his would-be incredulous reaction to the odd revelation with the tensing of his shoulders, fork briefly paused halfway to the pan where he was mixing the contents before he regains his wit. Had he known Sage any less than he did, he would have assumed she was trying to pique his interest by guile, but she was obviously upset and very perturbed by something, and Cypher knew he would do anything in his power to alleviate her worries. 

Turning off the element beneath his now abandoned lunch-in-progress, Cypher wipes his still-gloved, obviously pristine hands on the towel hanging off his shoulder and tosses it onto the counter next to the metal basket of assorted fruits. He fiddles with the topmost buttons of his shirt in an effort to cool off (the heat from the grill coupled with the clinging sweat under his mask did nothing to help his body temperature) before turning to face Sage, the azure glow from the ocular lenses of his high-tech eyewear casting an ethereal highlight across her beautifully shaped cheeks, accenting the warm pools of her eyes and cute button nose perfectly. Cypher can’t help but to lean down and press the mouth of his mask to her forehead and nose in quick succession, an action Jett assured him was called a ‘boop’. 

Familiar with these private acts of affection, Sage beamed up at Cypher, the rosy hue growing across the bridge of her nose and under her eyes swirling against faded blue. “Thank you so,  _ so _ much Cy! I know Sova won’t let us go through all the trouble of making something for him should he be made aware, so let’s go shopping for what we need tomorrow and start baking the day after. I’ll leave recipes up to you, I’ll make sure Sova doesn’t find out, deal?” Sage is bouncing with anticipated excitement, and Cypher melts inside. He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop swooning over the unique little eccentricities and quirks both of his lovers display every now and then. Not that anyone else would know he  _ was,  _ per se, but that was the fun part. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Watching Cypher work brings with it a gentle sort of tranquillity that washes through Sage’s entire being, he commands respect in the kitchen with his fluent motions, swiftly moving from pantry to cupboard to oven and everything in between, taking chocolate and cornflour and eggs and vanilla and numerous other ingredients and letting the oven heat it into something with the scent of a wonderful summer day not even thirty minutes later. Originally, Sage accompanied Cypher with the intent to help in any way possible with the process, but now, with Cypher proving his expertise sufficiently, Sage is content to sit at the island patiently, turning her stool left and right gently, akin to a cradle slowly rocking a babe to sleep, as she is slowly enraptured into the mesmerizing display of his showcased prowess. His skills are pleasantly rhythmic and pleasing a sleepy, hidden corner of her subconscious hindbrain. It’s the part that craves the sight of Sova and Cypher revel in their respective hobbies; the kind of pastimes that bring out the innermost piece of a person’s very soul. Her teammates like to tell her such. That her ability to seek and find her joy in helping those around her discover the things that bring them delightful jubilation. That her selflessness and caring nature is combatted only by her ruthless and loyal self on the battlefield, where the protection of her teammate's triumphs over anything else. 

Beneath her breast, Sage feels her heart swelling uncontrollably at the mere thought of satisfaction on Sova’s face, allowing her imagination to swarm with every possible outcome of her and Cypher’s little gift. Seeing his eye brighten up, spine taut and breath stuttering in response to the blatant display of adoration. She sighs dreamily, prompting a soft smile from her companion manning the egg-shaped timer above the stove. 

Sage straightens up as a thought pops into her foggy mind. “So, what are you actually making Cy?” Comes the inquiry, innocent as can be. 

Cypher sets down the cooking timer and rests his tailbone against the counter behind him to converse with Sage directly face to face. He ponders the question briefly, rubbing his hands together to dislodge excess baking powder. It shows off his nimble fingers nicely, and Sage is reminded again why she so cherishes the moments he sheds those protective layers around her and Sova, trusting them with his deepest secrets. Plus, she can appreciate the sight of a good pair of sturdy hands, not to mention the  _ flexible  _ memories arising of said limbs, colouring Sage pink once more remembering just how well they take her and Sova  _ apart _ . 

With a hum, Cypher mulls over his response, “I’m sure they appear all over the world here and there, but I’m making  _ Halwa dyal Makina,  _ or piped biscuits in English. It’s one of my favourite treats, I’ll admit, they’re very popular back in Morocco, so it was fairly easy to pick up the recipe and technique,” he briskly twirls around and snatches the dishcloth from where it hangs over the neck of the sink faucet and dampens it under a low spray before he begins clearing up the mess of his workspace in long sweeping strokes, “a comfort food if you will. There is no other dessert I can think of that brings forth the emotions these devious little cookies do, so it’s perfect for a first-timer like Sovie.” Cypher concludes, the nickname flowing from his silver tongue delicately. 

Nodding, chin resting upon an upturned palm as the connected elbow stands propped against the island, Sage sniffles absent-mindedly and picks at a crevice denting the marble before her. “I see, yes. I think that’s a wonderful idea. I can’t wait to see his face… To think he has lived all his life without eating  _ sweets _ ? It’s crazy. If I didn’t know him inside and out I’d say it’s a lie!” She juts out her lower lip, eyes drilling into the countertop, and suppresses a jump when Cypher strolls by and playfully tugs the protruding flesh with a thumb and forefinger. 

He stuffs the carton of eggs back in the fridge door and checks the progress of the cookies, “I get it, my dear. I’m just glad we managed to come up with something  _ perfect  _ for one of Sova’s first times. Puts a spring in your step, doesn’t it?” 

“Sure does. I can’t wait.”

“Oh really? Well, I’m sure I can think of  _ something  _ we could do to pass the meagre fifteen minutes those biscuits gave us, hm?” 

Cypher pulls the thick covering of his mask over his mouth and nose, stopping only where his goggles obstruct their path further upwards, a smile cutting through a handsome five o’clock shadow interrupted only by perfect white teeth and a gnarled scar tearing vertically down his mouth and jaw. “Of course, my lady, what ever did you have in mind?” He drawls while placing both hands on the counter and leaning bodily over it to meet Sage’s loving gaze halfway. 

She giggles, wrapping a loose fist tantalizingly around his left wrist and speaks her next words directly against the Cupid’s Bow of his lips, whisper-soft and tender like a lamb. 

“Well, it starts with the handsome devil baking cookies for my boyfriend right in front of me, I think.” 

And though neither of them has sampled the mentioned delicacy rising in the oven, the kiss is just as saccharine; definitely a taste to savour long after the last crumbs have been licked up. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can obtain access to the VALORANT closed beta by trying your luck for a key drop on Twitch! Simply open up a VALORANT stream under verified channels that have official drops enabled, then, proceed link your Twitch and Riot accounts and watch away for a chance to receive beta access. -> @playVALORANT on Twitter.


End file.
